


Fog of War

by OrangeRaven989



Series: Annette Rarepair Week 2021 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Annette Rarepair Week (Fire Emblem), Annette Rarepair Week 2021, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Feelings Realization, Injury Recovery, Napping, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Relationship, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29113671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeRaven989/pseuds/OrangeRaven989
Summary: Linhardt finds himself in a dangerous situation. Lucky for him, Annette swoops in to save the day.Annette Rarepair Week 2021, Day 1: Rescue
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Linhardt von Hevring
Series: Annette Rarepair Week 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136132
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Fog of War

**Author's Note:**

> I went with Rescue for Day 1's prompt and *definitely* didn't want Annette to be the one getting rescued, so here she is saving Linhardt's bacon. Also, this is my first time writing Linhardt and hoo boy was it tricky, but I do like this pairing a lot and hope I got it right!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The “fog of war” was supposed to just be an expression, but somehow they managed to be unlucky enough to get caught up in actual fog on the way back from their supply run. And then the Imperial forces took advantage of the situation and ambushed them. Annette squeezed her eyes shut against the rush of wind as she flew, her jet-black Pegasus weaving between flurries of arrows shooting up from the murky depths of the forest below. She turned back and launched a wind spell into the mist, clearing it just long enough for her to see an Imperial soldier go flying.

Her heart hammered in her chest and she struggled to catch her breath. She wasn’t safe yet, but the immediate threat seemed to be gone. Her ears perked at the sounds of clashing metal, likely the Professor engaging in a confrontation with swords, and in the distance she could hear the unmistakable screech of Hilda’s dragon. The respite was brief, and soon another storm of arrows shot up from the surface. She fired back with light magic, swirling the mist away and taking the three archers up in its cyclone before dashing them against the trees.

She winced. The ache ran through her veins, deep and sore. She was running out of stamina to cast magic. Reining in her Pegasus, she descended to the ground and lit a torch with a quick fire spell, dispelling the mist in her immediate vicinity. She was alone, for now, and she let out the heaviest of sighs. Worst case, she had her axe if she needed it, but she preferred not to have to bash people’s faces in if it could be avoided. The sight of blood still unsettled her, even after five years of war.

There was shouting. Lots of shouting. She strained, trying to discern the individual voices, listen for the sounds of her friends. But the cacophony was too much—everything was drowned out by everything else. Then a snapping twig cut through the din and she spun around, hand raised, poised to cast another spell. Her heart pounded. She held her breath. But then the foliage parted and Ashe ran out into the clearing, clutching at his chest.

Her eyes went wide at the sight, and she dropped down off her Pegasus and ran over to him. He held up his hand to wave her off, panting.

“I’m… I’m fine, Annette,” he managed. “Just out of breath, that’s all.”

She let out another heavy sigh. “Goodness, Ashe, you had me really worried there.” Her eyes darted back and forth through the trees, though she couldn’t see anything else coming. No sound besides the fray. “Were you running from someone?”

He hurriedly shook his head. “No, it’s not that,” he said, seeming to finally get his breath back. “It’s Linhardt.” He turned back in the direction he’d come from. “Back that way, he looked like he was in a lot of trouble.”

“And you ditched him?” she asked, incredulous.

He shook his head again, silver locks whipping back and forth. “N-no! I just… I’m all out of arrows, and I don’t think I could take on that many soldiers with just my dagger.” He swallowed. “I saw you swooping down and thought it might just be faster to get to you.”

She nodded. “Okay,” she said, her pulse beginning to race again. She could feel the strain in her blood, but if Linny was in trouble… she gulped. The poor thing had no real way to fight a swarm of enemies in close quarters. He’d be swallowed whole. “Which way?”

Ashe pointed. “Not too far.”

Returning to her Pegasus, she took a moment to gather herself before hopping back up and lifting off. She watched Ashe get smaller and smaller as she rose above the treetops, but she kept her torch at the ready to burn through the mist. The Pegasus launched forward, and soon the trees beneath her gave way to the path and the grassland. There was a swarm of soldiers, just as Ashe said, and they seemed to be surrounding a target in dark green robes.

Her heart lurched. This was a bad situation. She’d need to have some stern words with the Professor for letting one of his units get completely surrounded like this, but there wasn’t time to grapple with that right now. She swooped down and launched an Excalibur attack in the direction of the group.

“Linny, get down!” she called out. His head popped up for a moment in acknowledgement before ducking. Most of the soldiers got swept up in the cyclone, but there was one stubborn one with a lance that managed to avoid it. He crept closer to Linhardt.

Her veins felt like they were on fire. She honestly didn’t know if she could cast another spell without causing extreme damage to herself, but she would if she had to. The soldier raised his lance and Linhardt held up a hand swirling with red as if to counter, but Annette knew better. Linhardt was a healer, not an offensive mage, and his magic output would probably be too weak to hold the soldier off. She squeezed her eyes shut for a quick moment before grabbing the axe off her back, steering her Pegasus in his direction, and swinging as she flew by. She winced at the sound of metal cracking and felt the droplets of blood splash onto her face.

The Pegasus landed, and Annette turned to look at her comrade. His face was pale; he was clearly shaken up. The sight of the soldier’s blood on her probably didn’t help. But she met his eyes and managed a slight smile, her heart just a bit lighter knowing he was out of danger—for the moment, anyway. She held out her hand.

“Come on, Lin,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”

It took a moment for him to overcome the inertia of cowering, but eventually he rose to his full height and ambled over to her. Even from a distance she could tell his breathing was shaky. It wasn’t often that she saw Linhardt out of his comfort zone like this. Normally he had such a carefree attitude—sometimes infuriatingly so—and even during battle he tended to hang back and keep the party healthy with his white magic, staying out of the fray entirely. But when he ended up in the thick of it, like now, she could see it in his face. He hated war. He hated what had spread across Fodlan at the direction of his former friend and classmate. Though she was surprised when he turned on Edelgard and joined them after the assault on the monastery five years ago, she probably shouldn’t have been.

He took her hand, and she pulled him up onto the Pegasus. “I’m so glad I made it in time,” she said. “You owe Ashe your life, you know.”

There were shouts coming from the trees around them. Her pulse quickened. They were in no condition right now to handle reinforcements. Yes, she could swing her axe and take out one or two more, but without her magic she’d get quickly overwhelmed. Linhardt was out of it and couldn’t back her up. So they had to get out, and fast.

“Come on,” she said, the impatience in her voice apparent. “Grab on and let’s get out of here before they show up.”

“All right.”

She tensed as his arms snaked around her from behind, holding her just below her ribs. A shiver went down her spine. “H-hold tight,” she said, voice a little shakier than she expected. His grip was firm but not crushing. She hoped he’d be secure back there—she’d never flown with anyone before, so she didn’t really know what to expect. But her pulse was still racing, her breathing following suit. He was very close. It was… something.

With a kick she sent the Pegasus skyward, back up above the trees, and below her the reinforcements burst through the foliage and out toward the path. She smiled despite herself. Just in time. Without waiting to see what they’d do they set off toward a cliffside far from the battlefield. The mist was clearing, and she could barely make out the cliff’s edge in the distance. Linhardt’s grip tightened, squeezing the air from her, and she could feel her cheeks burn just a little.

It was strange. She was a romantic at heart, for sure, but ever since the war began she’d had other priorities. Such as staying alive in a city that had been taken over by Empire sympathizers. Then, upon returning to the monastery, she’d been tapped by Claude to work on tactics and battle plans for their missions. In short, she hadn’t felt her heart flutter in quite some time—at least, not in this context. But… Linhardt? Maybe it was just the proximity and the life-or-death situation that made her feel this way.

Maybe.

They continued on toward their goal, the mist fading rapidly. There was almost a hint of sunshine filtering through the haze, giving the world below an almost heavenly glow. It would have been really pretty if not for the threat of death from behind them. She couldn’t turn around and look. It wasn’t likely that they were being pursued—there was no sign of any flying units from the Imperial side—but still. One could never be too cautious.

“Hey, Linny, can you make sure we’re not being followed?” she called out over the rushing wind. A pause—no response. “Hey, Lin!”

She jolted at the sudden presence of a head nestling into the nook of her shoulder, just at the base of her neck. A squeal escaped her lips. Was he… really… ? But that notion was dashed in a mere moment as the light sound of snoring filled her ears. His grip around her stomach remained rigid.

“Lin, are you… sleeping?” she asked incredulously. She peeked out of the corner of her eye and was met with the sight of disheveled green hair, a place face, and eyes that were shut in peaceful slumber. She bit her lip. “Of course you are,” she muttered. But… she couldn’t deny that the position they were in was actually… comfortable. It felt nice. Especially since it seemed the danger had passed.

Oh dear.

She flushed again. This was… unexpected. It wasn’t that Linhardt was unattractive—actually, ever since they came back to the monastery she’d had to admit that he looked, well, pretty handsome. Especially how his jaw had become more defined, and the way his hair looked now, and… well, anyway, he was nice-looking. But he was still a lazy bum.

That being said, she _almost_ didn’t mind it so much anymore. Because she was starting to understand his perspective, especially now that he’d defected from the Empire entirely.

Oh dear. Seriously, what.

The cliffside was in sight, and she pressed the Pegasus on with a little more urgency. She kind of needed him to let go of her—not because she was uncomfortable, but more that she was a little too comfortable and it was making her uncomfortable. Or something. But the Pegasus alit on the cliffside, the landing rousing her passenger from his sleep, and together they climbed down off the animal and ambled toward a large tree a good way back from the cliff’s edge. They sat, and Annette took the opportunity to gather herself.

Then she looked over at Linhardt. She hadn’t noticed before due to the urgency of the situation, but he had a gash on his shoulder that looked a bit nasty. Not exactly life-threatening, but certainly enough to explain his pale face. Possibly also the fatigue, though Linhardt being Linhardt that was up for debate.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, catching his eye. “I’m kind of out of strength right now, but I think I have enough left to take care of that.” She nodded in the direction of his wound.

He gave a weak smile in return. “I certainly wouldn’t mind.”

She scooted over and leaned into him, reaching her hand out to cover the wound. Her heart was beating fast, but she ignored it and dug deep to pull out enough stamina to cast recovery magic. She glanced up at his face—eyes closed, an almost relaxed expression. She was glad. All things considered, it looked like he managed to get out of that mostly unscathed. With a little more effort she managed to close up the wound, and then she collapsed against him, completely spent.

“You seem like you could use a nap,” he said.

She couldn’t tell if he was earnest or just messing with her. But she bristled a bit, held back the choice words she had in mind, and instead went with a gentler approach.

“You know, Linny,” she said, stopping to catch her breath, “a thank you might not be unwelcome right now.”

“Thank you, Annette.”

Her eyes went wide. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words weren’t there. He… actually thanked her? For real? Well then. That was… unexpected. Just another unexpected thing. There had been a lot of those in the past few minutes.

She glanced up at him again. “Um… sure.”

“You really saved me back there,” he continued. Then he shuddered. “I… actually, I don’t know if I could have killed them myself.”

“Yeah, you were pretty outnumbered.”

He shook his head. “I mean, I don’t know if I could have brought myself to do it.” A pause. “I may have known some of them, after all.” The air tensed for just a moment before he spoke again. “And I also hate blood.”

Her body was about to give out, and she let herself go limp against him. Her head landed on his shoulder, which made her face flush again, but she had no real energy left to do anything about it. So instead she just sat there, letting herself feel weird but slowly growing more comfortable. Especially when she felt his arm slide around her back and come to rest on her shoulder. She shivered. She wasn’t exactly sure what spurred that on, but she didn’t mind it. Actually… it was nice.

Oh dear.

Well then.

“I meant what I said,” he continued. “You really do look like you could use a nap.”

She sighed. “I am pretty spent.”

“Then rest,” he replied. “I’ll stay here with you.”

A shiver coursed through her. “You… you will?”

He looked into her eyes and smiled. “Of course,” he said. “You always do seem to go out of your way for me, Annette. I’d like to return the favor.” There was just the briefest hint of a blush on his cheeks—a rare sight indeed. “I don’t particularly care to put effort into things I have no interest in, but… I am certainly interested in you.”

She pressed her lips together to silence whatever was bubbling up in her throat. Her cheeks were on fire, she could tell. It was… sweet. Linhardt willing to put himself out for her was, well, probably the highest compliment she could ever receive. She blinked. Yes, he had become quite handsome, hadn’t he? Well, maybe just a little.

And… those words he’d said. They meant what it sounded like, right? Or didn’t they? It was Linhardt, after all… there was no telling if he was speaking clinically and without feeling or if he actually… meant… _that_.

She gulped her heart down and squeaked out the words. “You’re… interested in me?”

“Of course,” he replied simply. “I’d go so far as to say that I’d like to stay by your side forever.” It was as if the words were mere facts of life, and not a blistering love confession. “But what’s important now is that you get some rest. I’ll watch over you, and once I get some strength back I’ll provide some healing as well.”

Despite feeling as if her heart was about to explode, he did have a point; she was about to pass out from exhaustion. But his words were… just… well, she could think about it all once they got back to the monastery. As it was, her eyelids were beginning to droop and the darkness of sleep was creeping in. She smiled and nestled her head against his chest. “Thanks, Linny.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Find me on Twitter: [OrangeRaven989](https://twitter.com/OrangeRaven989)


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